Richardson Steps Up Effort To Attract Hispanic Voters

Thursday, August 23rd 2007, 5:25 pm

By: News On 6

LAS VEGAS (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson started a Hispanic outreach program Thursday to try to raise his profile with a voting bloc critical to his campaign.

``Because my name is Richardson, many Latinos don't know I'm Latino,'' the New Mexico governor told reporters in Spanish after a news conference announcing the effort.

He sometimes jokes about adopting his mother's maiden name: Lopez. But Richardson, who would be the first Hispanic president, is open about the truth behind the humor. As an underdog candidate who needs to run strongly in heavily Hispanic Nevada, he needs every Hispanic vote he can muster.

``It's not just a Latino-only strategy, but nationally I want to have a strong Latino base that at least knows I'm Latino and that comes and votes for me,'' he said.

Richardson aides say their candidate hasn't been getting the media buzz his candidacy deserves, in part because of the attention showered on top-tier candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama who are aiming for historic firsts as a female or black president.

Richardson senior adviser Rick Hernandez called it part of a pattern of ``benign neglect'' of Hispanics in politics.

To raise his profile as a Hispanic candidate Richardson said his outreach program will focus on reaching Hispanic families _ rather than individuals. Families will be encouraged to canvass, volunteer and phone bank together. They'll be asked to promise to enlist other relatives and neighbors.

``It's families approaching families, because the family unit is the most important component for the Latino voter,'' Richardson said. ``It's a novel approach, and it's more cost-effective. And I need to do it pretty fast. ...''

The campaign said the effort has been operating in Las Vegas since the spring, but it could not cite the number of people who have signed on.

Recent Nevada polling underscores the work Richardson has ahead of him as he points to the state's second-in-the-nation caucus Jan. 19. In a late July survey of 400 self-identified Hispanic voters likely to vote in Nevada's caucus, 30 percent had never heard of Richardson, compared with 2 percent who had never heard of Clinton.

Richardson had the support of only 14 percent of those surveyed. Clinton had 58 percent, Obama had 7 percent and former vice presidential nominee John Edwards had 5 percent, according to the poll paid for by Latino Decisions, a nonpartisan project researching the Hispanic electorate.

Richardson spent much of Thursday campaigning with Hispanic groups. In the morning, he used mostly Spanish to address a group of union laundry workers at the Culinary Workers Union hall, telling them ``I am one of you. I am Mexican.''